Semi-Truck Brakes Fail, Setting Off Catastrophic Events Ending in Violent Explosion
- 33 cars were hit by the runaway semi truck
- 11 people injured
- One person in critical condition
A runaway semi-truck is about as scary an automotive disaster that can happen on the road. These trucks are either extremely heavy (empty) or colossally heavy (loaded). Either way, these things require a lot of force to stop. If the brakes fail, all hell will break loose. In fact, all hell did break loose when a semi-truck seemingly lost its brakes in Tooele, Utah. While one person was airlifted to the nearest hospital in critical condition, thankfully, no fatalities were reported despite the carnage. To top it off, there is a semi truck crash video of the actual event. Check it out below.
What happens if a semi-truck loses its brakes?
Police officially concluded what went wrong; the truck had some sort of brake failure. Making matters worse, the truck was hauling two trailers full of gravel, which means this battering ram weighed more than God. This is likely why the rig suffered brake failure.
According to KLS Utah, local police reported that the truck hit 33 vehicles on its runaway rampage. 11 people were injured in the many crashes. Ultimately, the truck struck the Tooele Motor Company building, where it exploded, igniting a large fire. The chaos and destruction were far-reaching. Yet, somehow, not a single death was reported. However, one of the injured was life-flighted to the nearest hospital in critical condition.
The semi-truck crash video exists
Seeing as how it’s 2023, of course there is a video of the insane runaway truck. A driver’s dashcam caught a snap of the incident while sitting at a red light. You can see the truck coming from far away thanks to the plume of gravel dust trailing behind it like an astroid about to make contact. Thankfully, the driver with the dashcam noticed the semi barreling toward them and made a quick right to avoid getting obliterated.
Tony Garner was driving when he saw the truck coming his way. This is what he had to say about it, “a semi coming straight at me, and I was hoping it was going to regain its, whatever, to drive straight. And it didn’t, and it hit the car right in front of me, and that’s when I just closed my eyes and prayed,” he said.
Miraculously, the truck pushed his vehicle without serious incident. The next thing Garner saw was the truck smash the building and bloom into flame.
Janet Robison was a few cars behind Garner. “It had gone airborne, is what I saw, I just saw this big thing coming,” she recalled. She said the car in front of her began spinning toward hers. Garner, who was uninjured, began to help others who were trapped in their vehicles.
“There was a police officer there like an angel appeared, so I’m (thinking) ‘thank you, thank God,'” Garner said. “It was just so chaotic and so scary.”
